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People with severe mental illness remained at significantly higher risk of death following COVID-19 infection throughout the pandemic, despite being prioritised for vaccination, according to new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n People with severe mental illness (SMI) have long faced poorer physical health and higher rates of premature death than the wider population. New research has found that this inequality persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, even after vaccines became available.<\/p>\n Researchers analysed health records from more than 13.5 million people in England who had COVID-19 between January 2020 and June 2023. This included more than 160,000 people with SMI, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and other psychotic disorders.<\/p>\n People with severe mental illness were prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination from February 2021. By July that year, 73.2% of people with SMI had received two vaccine doses, compared with 67.4% of people without SMI.<\/p>\n However, by June 2023, vaccination coverage among people with SMI was 79.4%, compared with 87.2% among those without SMI.<\/p>\n The researchers found that people with SMI remained at greater risk of death following COVID-19 infection throughout the study period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nVaccination reduced some risks, but inequalities remained<\/h3>\n
People with SMI were prioritised for vaccination<\/h3>\n